A 41-year-old woman with learning disabilities is so over-medicated she can no longer walk unassisted and is confined to a psychiatric hospital in Belfast, her parents have claimed.
Mark and Marjorie Sharp, who live in the Stewartstown Road area of Belfast, told The Irish News that their daughter has endured a 25-year ordeal in the care system spanning multiple facilities, including Muckamore Abbey Hospital.
And they have now raised serious concerns about their daughter’s care at the Knockbracken psychiatric hospital campus, where Laura now lives after spending most of her adult life in Muckamore – a specialist facility that was the subject of a public inquiry into the abuse of patients by staff, and a long-running police investigation.
Mr and Mrs Sharp, parents of 41‑year‑old Laura, said their daughter was first detained at the age of just 16 and has been in the care of the state ever since.
Laura left Muckamore in 2018, shortly before the news of an abuse scandal at the specialist Co Antrim hospital first began to emerge, and she was moved to a supported living facility run by a charity.
Concerns were also raised about her care there. Laura was “evicted” last year and her parents believe she was moved out of the supported living facility because of their role in prompting an inspection by Northern Ireland’s health watchdog that found care failings. The charity, the Cedar Foundation, says she was moved because they were no longer able to meet Laura’s care needs.
Laura now lives permanently at Knockbracken where her parents believe she is over-medicated to the point she can no longer walk unassisted, and where her condition has “deteriorated” to such an extent she has been unable to attend important medical appointments.
Mark and Marjorie say sweeping changes are now needed to ensure vulnerable patients like Laura are given adequate care, warning that many of the failings identified by the public inquiry into Muckamore have not been addressed.
The public inquiry found earlier this year that Muckamore patients, some of the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland, suffered physical abuse including black eyes and broken bones, were left “zombified” by over-medication, and endured mental torture and systematic bullying in a culture where mistreatment had become “normality”.
A PSNI investigation into allegations of abuse at the specialist Co Antrim hospital has been ongoing for the best part of a decade in what is believed to be the largest criminal probe of its kind ever undertaken in the UK, involving hundreds of thousands of hours of CCTV footage from inside the facility.
Mr and Mrs Sharp were among those family members who gave evidence to the inquiry, and told The Irish News how they reported to authorities that Laura was the victim of serious assaults on more than one occasion – none of which they say resulted in any consequences.
They believe family members are still not being listened to by health authorities.
The Sharp family met the chief executive of the Belfast Trust, Jennifer Welsh, last month. Marjorie and Mark say that while the meeting went well, specific suggestions they had made about Laura’s care do not appear to have been passed on to staff members dealing with their daughter.
The Trust, however, say the “actions agreed” during the meeting with the chief executive have been passed to frontline staff. The Trust also stated that staff meet with the family every week to discuss Laura’s care, and insisted any concerns raised are “taken very seriously”.
A Trust spokesperson also insisted her medication and support arrangements are “regularly reviewed”.
Laura’s current care at Knockbracken, the family say, is a far cry from an initially encouraging period she spent in an assisted living facility upon leaving Muckamore – proving, the parents say, that Laura is perfectly capable of living a happy life with the right support.
They are now hoping to secure an arrangement for her with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, for a care package to be delivered in what would become her own home – meaning that if an issue were to arise then her care could be modified, rather than forcing her to endure another eviction and move to another facility. That, Mr and Mrs Sharp hope, could bring an end to a 25-year ordeal that has seen Laura moved between three separate facilities since she was first detained under mental health legislation as a teenager.
Early life and detention at Muckamore
Marjorie Sharp recalls knowing from the time Laura was nine months old that something was different about her daughter. She attended school in Lisburn before the family moved to Belfast. In her teenage years, she displayed behaviour that made her difficult to manage.
“Laura used to go on the bus with other kids, and she used to hit the other kids, and she’d strip off in school,” Marjorie said.
Between the ages of around 12 and 14, Laura was first put on medication. “Laura was like a zombie,” Marjorie said. “We had to feed Laura. Laura couldn’t talk.” The medication was stopped, and the family tried securing assistance staff but Laura was “getting very disruptive”. With another child to care for in the family home and everything beginning to “revolve around Laura”, Mark and Marjorie faced a difficult decision.
A phone call to the family’s social worker in August 2001 resulted in Laura being placed at Muckamore Abbey Hospital. “The worst day of my life,” Marjorie said. “We tried everywhere. We tried other places. Nothing was suitable.” Mark said: “We decided to enter her for better treatment, hoping she’d come home again. But that didn’t happen. Laura was detained.” For the first six weeks, the family say they were not allowed to visit her.
The Muckamore Abbey Hospital health facility (Liam McBurney/PA)
Concerns about Laura’s care emerged within the first few months. The Sharps recalled multiple instances of alleged mistreatment that had been reported to authorities, including one occasion that they said left her “shaking and afraid”, but the family say their concerns were not dealt with adequately.
Laura remained in Muckamore for most of her adult life, finally leaving in March 2018.
The Sharps were among the families who gave evidence to the Muckamore public inquiry.
The Mews supported living
Laura moved to The Mews supported living in Belfast in 2018. Her family praised its first year, with consistent core staff, but said stability was eroded as key personnel left and turnover rose. Covid lockdowns severely restricted family contact to all families and her father described how he climbed a railing after being denied access in order to reassure her and tell her “mammy and daddy still love you but we can’t come and see you” during the first lockdown.
Mr Sharp said he was reported to police for trespassing. In September 2024, after an incident in a shop with inexperienced staff, her parents claim she was effectively confined to her home. The family say they brought concerns about The Mews to the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, who carried out a series of inspections between February and March 2025 that found failings compromising service users’ quality of life. Laura left the facility in July 2025 and the family believes this was as a result of their decision to raise concerns.
The charity said that in December 2024 it notified the Belfast Trust that due to “changes in assessed need” it could no longer provide Laura with “the care she needed”.
The Cedar Foundation, in a statement, said: “The Mews has a dedicated team of staff, many of whom have been employees since the service opened in 2018. Staff turnover rates reflect the wider health and social care sector. There is no evidence that staff turnover caused a loss of stability or a decline in quality of life; indeed, many families continually commend the service and support provided at The Mews.”
The charity said it made the PSNI aware of an individual scaling “external fencing” and erecting a banner.
Cedar said it has “previously addressed all concerns raised by the Sharp family” and remains “sorry that the Sharp family still feel we did not meet their expectations for the care and support provided to their daughter”.
Knockbracken
Laura was moved to the Knockbracken psychiatric hospital campus in Belfast, which has become her new home. There, her parents say her condition has become significantly worse.
“Laura’s actually deteriorated since she went into Knockbracken under the Belfast Trust care, just deteriorated,” Mark said. Before she entered the facility, her parents say Laura was capable of walking around half-a-mile away and back again. Now, they say she can barely walk due to the medication she is on. “She is dizzy and overmedicated,” Marjorie said. ”She can’t function. She couldn’t hold a conversation with us now, but she was able to beforehand.”
Laura is not taken into the community, her parents say. When the family visits, they are in a visitors’ room with the door into the ward locked.
They also allege that staff at Knockbracken sometimes enjoy takeaway food in front of patients, who are restricted to “hospital food” and can become agitated when they see staff eating food from elsewhere – a practice identified in the Muckamore public inquiry as resulting in “patient distress, which led to self-injury and thereafter seclusion of the patient by staff”.
Knockbracken Healthcare Park. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN
This allegation was put to the Trust by The Irish News. The Trust declined to comment on this specific point but a spokesperson said it is unable to comment on specific aspects of any person’s care due to confidentiality and patient privacy.
The family met with Belfast Trust chief executive Jennifer Welsh on August 12, after receiving a five-page apology from the Belfast Trust that was issued to families who had given evidence to the Muckamore inquiry. The apology acknowledged the Trust had adopted an “adversarial attitude” towards families and the inquiry. Mark and Marjorie said the meeting was positive and professional, but weeks later they now say specific care improvements they had requested still do not appear to have been passed along to on-the-ground staff at Knockbracken.
Laura’s condition has now deteriorated to such an extent that she has missed important medical appointments, because she has been unable to go into the external clinic due to her “anxiety and autism”. Marjorie said that just a few years ago she had brought Laura to the same clinic, alone, without issue – something that would be impossible today in Laura’s present condition.
A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust said: “Belfast Trust understands that Laura’s family are experiencing considerable stress and anxiety in relation to her wellbeing. Our staff meet with them at a dedicated meeting once a week to discuss her care and answer any questions they may have. Staff also have regular contact with them outside of this dedicated weekly time. Belfast Trust’s Chief Executive has also met with Mr and Mrs Sharp recently and the actions agreed from this meeting have been shared with the service.
“Any concerns families raise with the Trust are taken very seriously and are reviewed through the appropriate clinical and governance procedures. Care plans, including medication and support arrangements, are regularly reviewed by multidisciplinary teams and concerns raised by families are considered as part of those ongoing assessments.”
The Trust spokesperson added: “Visiting facilities and community access arrangements are determined according to individual care plans, risk assessments and clinical advice, with the aim of promoting independence, wellbeing and meaningful family contact wherever possible.
“Following the publication of the Muckamore Abbey Hospital Inquiry Report, Belfast Trust’s Chief Executive and Chair wrote to families to offer a full and unequivocal apology and an invitation to meet with the Chief Executive and Chair. We are working with those families who would like to do so to make arrangements for those meetings and some have already taken place, as with Mr and Mrs Sharp. Belfast Trust remains committed to rebuilding trust with families, listening to them, and learning as we move forward following the publication of the Inquiry Report.
“We want to again reassure Laura’s family that her wellbeing is of vital importance to us and we will continue to work with them to ensure she is receiving the level of care she needs at all times.”
Reform
The Muckamore Inquiry expressed serious concern about whether the Belfast Trust can change on its own, stating it may require external forces to do so. The report stated that the “attitude of the trust”, as seen in correspondence, raised “serious concern as to whether the Belfast Trust has the capacity to change its ways independently and without external forces brought to bear”.
Marjorie Sharp believes the “whole culture is rotten”. Mark Sharp told The Irish News there is a power imbalance between health authorities and families that must be corrected. “You can’t fight them on your own,” he said. “Families are too tired, it’s impossible.”
He believes family members should be given a greater say in the care of their loved ones.
Before his resignation as Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt apologised to families and patients at Muckamore following the inquiry report’s publication, and promised to implement all 106 recommendations made by the inquiry – without ruling out taking some form of action to ensure reforms at the Belfast Trust.
Asked if his resignation is likely to change things, Mark Sharp was pessimistic: “Nothing’s happening on disability. No one is interested. I don’t know if it’s going to change.”
In a statement, the new Health Minister Robbie Butler said the Muckamore Inquiry report is a “priority issue”, and stressed that he is “working through the Report’s recommendations with my officials”.